Voluntary Early Out Retirement AuthorityVoluntary Early Out Retirement Authority Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 09:35:53 -0500 To: "USGS Employees" From: Judy Huffman Subject: Voluntary Early Out Retirement Authority MEMORANDUM To: All U.S. Geological Survey Employees From: Robert Hosenfeld Personnel Officer Subject: Voluntary Early Out Retirement Authority We received approval from the Office of Personnel Management to offer Voluntary Early Out Retirement Authority (VERA) to all employees, nationwide from the date of this memorandum until September 30, 1998. All USGS employees nationwide who meet eligibility requirements for early retirement may take advantage of the VERA. Employees who wish to retire under this authority must be off the roles by close of business September 30, 1998. Following is information to assist you in making decisions about your use of the early retirement authority: 1. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS. To be eligible for early out retirement, both FERS and CSRS employees must be age 50 with 20 years of credible service or have 25 years of credible service at any age. Under CSRS, the annuity for an early out retiree is reduced 2 percent a year for each year the retiree is under age 55. Since the annuity of a FERS-conversion retiree is based on both CSRS and FERS components, this means that the reduction applies only to the CSRS portion of the annuity--not the FERS portion. 2. COMPUTING ANNUITIES. The amount of your basic annuity is based on a percentage of your "high 3" average salary. Your "high 3" average salary is the highest 3 years of base pay or salary you earned in any consecutive 3-year period (normally most recent 3 years). CSRS FORMULA* Basic annuity equals: 1.5 % x high 3 x 5 years, plus 1.75% x high 3 x 5 years, plus 2% x high 3 x number of years of credible service in excess of 10 years CSRS SHORTCUT FORMULA* (Length of credible service in whole years minus 2) x .02 x high 3= basic annuity FERS FORMULA* Basic Annuity equals: 1% x high 3 x all years of FERS service OR If age > 62, 1.1% x high 3 x all years of service *The formulas above do no include any age reduction which may apply or any reduction resulting from the election of a survivor annuity. PART TIME employees should not use these formulas and should contact a retirement specialist for assistance. 3. CONTACTS FOR ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE Cynthia Wylie (703) 648-7429 All Employees Serviced by the Reston Judy Huffman (703) 648-7428* Personnel Office--Headquarters/Eastern Reg TTY Line (703) 648-7788 *Judy will not be 601 National Center available after 4/30/98 Reston, VA 20192 Dian Reeves (770) 409-7752 All Employees Serviced by TTY Line (770) 509-7750 the Norcross Personnel Spalding Woods Office Park, Suite 160 Southeastern Region Norcross, GA 30092 Emily Alexander (303) 236-5900x352 All Employees Serviced by Tamara Erlsten x336 Denver Personnel Office- Michelle Schindler x370 Central Region Darlene Welton x342 TTY Line (303)236-5852 Building 25, Denver Federal Center P.O. Box 25046 Denver, CO 80225 Trish Sliter (650) 329-4078 All Employees Serviced by Michele Bollier (650) 329-4096 the Menlo Park Personnel Cathy Swigart (650)329-4116 Office-Western Region Trindel Thompson (650)329-4077 Elizabeth Cohen (650)329-4112 TTY Line (650) 329-4123 345 Middlefield Road Menlo Park, CA 94025